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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Use a drill to ________________ a hole in the wall.
  2. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  3. A ________________ is equal to sixteen ounces.
  4. Doesn't taking care of babies ________________ you?
  5. He hasn't even shaken my ________________.
  6. I got dealt a bad ________________.
  7. Rodrigo's family went to the dog ________________ to adopt a dog.
  8. Do you need a ________________ with that?
  9. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  10. She ________________ him three sons and a daughter.
  11. The dagger's metal was presumably from the same meteor ________________.
  12. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  13. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  14. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  15. Jeff had to ________________ the pavement for three months before he found a job.
  16. He's taking a ________________ right now.
  17. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  18. We took cover from the thunder ________________.
  19. It's one o'clock ________________.
  20. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  21. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  22. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  23. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  24. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. bore — to drill
  2. fork — to eat with
  3. pound — a weight
  4. bore — to tire
  5. hand — part of the body
  6. hand — in cards
  7. pound — for dogs
  8. hand — help
  9. sharp — with an edge
  10. bore — gave birth
  11. shower — a meteor shower
  12. kid — to tease
  13. root — of a word
  14. kid — child
  15. pound — to hit hard
  16. shower — to wash
  17. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  18. shower — rain
  19. sharp — exactly
  20. fork — in a road
  21. root — of a plant
  22. sharp — clever
  23. fork — a garden tool
  24. root — the cause

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com